DISCLAIMER: No matter how much I want it, I do not own Naruto. I am still only borrowing the characters and promise to return them in good condition – well, maybe slightly battered!

AN:

Well, I wasn't going to publish this chapter until I had at least fifteen reviews for the last one, but I totally have no self-control! I'll just sit here and hope this chapter makes up for the lack of responce for the last! I hope you all have a wonderful new year... oh and you all should isten to Nightcore - Come Little Children while reading this chapter. Seriously - it's really, really awesome and lends a little bit of atmospheric creepyness to it!

Thanks to my beta THECOOKIEMONSTER77 for helping me out with this chapter - as usual - you totally rock!

-BTW - Nice fluffy moment for you Lightningscar - at the end of the chapter!

Chapter Thirty:

Cursed Seals - Ushi Village

Now possibilities I'd never considered,

Are occurring the likes of which I'd never heard,

Now an angry soul comes back from beyond the grave,

To repossess a body with which I'd misbehaved

~Avenged Sevenfold~

The hunters were coming.

They all looked up as the shrieking echo died down. Odd creatures were dangling from the ceiling. They were unlike anything they'd ever seen or imagined – some sort of ape-like human crossbreed. With ferocious eyes that glared from beneath thick, heavy brows, this thing was a mixture of all the nasty creatures that had ever pursued them in any of their childhood nightmares.

"It's a Hunter," whispered one of the cowering women. Her face did not immediately register the grief at the sight of what may have once been her child, but the devastation in her voice slipped through when she added, "Kill it."

There were twenty of them, as far as they could see. Their five-toed feet had claws that pierced the ceiling, enabling them to move forward... hand over foot, foot over hand. One of them let out a deep, menacing growl. The same sound they'd been hearing through the walls. Now it echoed in the arena, up close and personal.

Overwhelmed by the sudden evil sensation the creatures were emitting, the young shinobi were barely able to reach for their weaponry.

Kakashi and Asuma whipped out a handful of shuriken and threw them at the Hunters. Every one of the deadly missiles struck true. Blood flowed, but the creatures seemed to feel no pain; it only made them angrier. Their growls grew louder and more guttural. Ino threw a kunai and struck one through its wrist, which snapped. The creature dropped to the floor and gave an enraged growl.

The genin began to aim for knees, ankles, elbows, which seemed tobe the weakest spots. More of the Hunters dropped from the ceiling...but they continued to advance, crawling, pushing themselves forward with whatever limbs remained intact.

Kakashi shot fireball after fireball at the Hunter's, but they were too fast. He only managed to catch two with his jutsu. Asuma took a deep breath and exhaled several small blasts of wind chakra. They were faster than the fireballs and spread out enough to make it difficult for the creatures to avoid. The blasts pierced into four of the beasts flesh.

There were only two Hunters left on the ceiling. One of them made a mighty, impossible lunge and hit a civilian like a battering ram, slashing his chest open with its claws. Two of the hunters on the floor rushed forward, not attacking, but wanting to feed on his remains.

Sickened by the desecration of the corpse, Sai formed the hand seals for Earth Release: Bedrock Coffin. Multiple walls of rock rose from the floor and moved around either side of the dead man and the beasts. With a harsh movement of his hand, the walls slammed together, crushing his opponents.

The other beasts, though injured, continued to move forward. They were so close that even in the dim light; Naruto could see their yellow eyes.

Radiant, cold, fierce.

Glaring at him.

One of them slammed hard into him, one hundred pounds of wiry muscle and bone, making him stagger backwards.

"Dammit, where's animal control when you need them?" wondered Naruto aloud as he dodged the claws that swiped towards his throat.

For an instant, they were face-to-face, eye to murderous eye. The creature's teeth were bared, and it was hissing ferociously, breath pungent and repulsive. It was a human and yet not a human and the profoundly alien quality of its bold stare was terrifying. Naruto's hand tightened on the pommel of his sword. Visage grim, he swung. A whistle of metal rang out through the arena and suddenly - severed, clawed hands tumbled gracefully through the air.

The blade swung again, slicing through the body as if it were barely there, coming out the other side. The Hunter erupted as it fell in two pieces, splattering the blonde with gore.

Sasuke nailed a Hunter with three rapid hits to the chin, throat and chest, flipping it to the floor. He pulled another kunai from his pouch and had it under its chin in less than a second. Blood sprayed his face and chest as he rammed the weapon home. From out of nowhere, another creature leaped at him. Sasuke jammed his kunai up into its rib cage, slightly flinching from the squelching sound as his hand followed his kunai into the monster's body. He looked up into the creature's eyes just as they registered the shock before they bulged. Clenching the Hunter's body, pulling him close, he turned the knife and twisted.

Seeing his brother in the close, lover-like embrace, Naruto flippantly commented, "Oh look everyone, Sasuke made a friend!"

Already up and moving before his opponent had even finished its death rattle, Sasuke growled, "Focus, baka… before you become something's dinner."

Up until the last of the Hunters had been dispatched, Kakashi had been calm and collected. Now he seemed nervous, anxious. "Something's coming… and it's fast and very big."

"Where?" asked Asuma, suddenly wary as well.

"The way we came in from."

"Kids, I want you to grab those people and get out of here."

"We're not leaving you, dad!" shouted Naruto. "There's no 'I' in team."

"There's no 'I' in dead either!" Kakashi spun around a grabbed the boy in an iron tight grasp. "Do as I say NOW!" he bellowed callously and gave him a hard shake. "You listen to me; I am your commander, not your father!"

Naruto's face went white with shock. He numbly nodded and turned on his heel while Kakashi suddenly developed an intense interest in his gear. The other genin turned away and pretended not to notice the stricken look on both their faces.

"Get them out of here and try to keep them safe," said Asuma kindly.

"Yes…"

The deafening crash of the steel door rang out as it was smashed open. With a thunderous roar, the man-beast from the stasis tube barreled into the room at a velocity that was incredibly fast, even for a shinobi. With superhuman speed, it attacked the escapees and ninja who ran and dodged, barely avoiding the whishing swipe of its iron claws.

One of the civilians, too weakened to evade, was gutted by the man-beast. It lifted the poor man's body, as if it were as light as a feather, up to its snout. Recognizing that the man was dead, the beast flung him aside like garbage... and began to run towards the group.

The red-haired woman stepped forward and held out her hand. "Yuudai," she pleaded, "Please come back to me. Don't hurt anyone else, please. I know you're in there somewhere, please."

With another lightning move, the monster caught her in its steely claw, crushing her ribs. With blood spurting from her mouth, she uttered her last word...

"Yuudai…"

Kakashi shunshined in front of her and threw a kunai at the beast to distract it from attacking more of the civilians. He clapped his hands together, running through seals with insane speed, blurring his movements. "Go now!" he shouted to the genin before making a ring with his thumb and index finger. A massive orb of burning flame shot from his mouth, bigger and hotter than anything they had ever witnessed before.

The teens grabbed the last of the prisoners and ran through the destroyed door.

~~O~~

They ran through the twisted corridors, half-carrying and half-dragging the civilians behind them. When they finally made it out of the underground laboratory and into the fresh clean air, the escapees breathed deep and cheered. The teens did not. They warily stood guard as they waited for their commanders to rejoin them.

Naruto kept looking towards the house; a flicker of indecision crossed his face. Sasuke's perfect eyes caught the glance. "Don't even think about it," he murmured under his breath. "We have our orders."

"I'm not a fool."

"That's debatable."

Naruto frowned, but stayed put. He anxiously waited; praying they would make it out safely. They all heard a rustling nearby in the forest and brought their weapons up. Several cloaked figures jumped down in front of them.

Anbu had arrived.

Their ninja pride was the only thing that kept them from breathing deep and cheering as the civilians had.

~~O~~

"Damn thing just won't die!" yelled Asuma after trying yet another jutsu which failed spectacularly. He backed up and let Kakashi try another fire jutsu… which didn't work either. Quite frankly, they were stumped.

The beast was stronger than any of the other creatures they had encountered so far. Its body seemed to be made of iron. Fire, wind, lightning, water, and earth jutsus had no impact on it. The fact was… they killed it several times already, but it kept coming.

Putrid water drained from its empty eye sockets and mouth. It jerked like a marionette as it advanced. It seized Asuma and began hammering him with his rapidly rotting fists. Kakashi stabbed it repeatedly with a kunai until it dropped him.

The copy-nin grabbed his comrade and quickly shunshined across the arena before it recovered. He laid his friend down and moved away as the creature raced towards him. Its massive blow slammed Kakashi into the wall emitting a sharp breath from him. As he fell to the ground, it leapt into the air and came down with a knee drop onto his stomach.

The copy-nin ignored the pain, crossed his legs to form a scissor lock around the creature's throat and flipped the beast. Teeth gritted, every muscle straining, Kakashi choked the beast with everything he had left.

Its blackened lips pulled back in a wild animal snarl and his mouth opened to an impossibly large size, like a snake about to eat an egg. Sharp teeth snapped and gnashed, it gurgled then spewed black bile… still Kakashi pressed on.

It became still, but he wasn't fooled for a minute. He raced over to one of the dead guards, picked up his sword, and decapitated the beast.

When Anbu arrived minutes later a very rumpled Kakashi was helping Asuma stand. Thick, black smoke hung in the air as a massive body burned. He serenely asked, "Mah Cat, perfect timing. Here to finally here to clean up after us?"

"Yes Senpai, we will take over this investigation. Take the civilians back to the village while we sort everything out here."

~~O~~

Together they journeyed back to the village, each carrying a litter to transport the civilians. Kakashi walked by Naruto's side. Judging by the stony silence, he knew his boy had been hurt by his attitude and he didn't blame him. But he needed the boy to understand why he did what he did.

Lowly, he spoke, "I understand that you are upset. You know, the Hokage rarely ever allows a parent to become a genin's Sensei. He feels that the parent might become over-protective and jeopardize a mission or even that genin's future career. I really had to convince him that I would do the right thing in order to become your Sensei."

Naruto sighed heavily. "I know. I really do understand that."

"I told you a long time ago that I am two different men. I am Kakashi Hatake, the man and Kakashi Hatake, the jonin. A lot of people do not like the jonin. He can be ruthless, deadly, and probably a bit cruel."

"I understand that too."

"When we are on a mission, you are not my son; you are my student. A genin must always obey his commander."

Naruto frowned and argued, "I know and I am sorry about that, but you were the one that taught me that a ninja who abandons his comrades is scum."

"Leaving didn't mean you were abandoning me. It was the right thing to do. People were getting killed… more would have if you didn't get them out. You know, I didn't tell you to leave because I didn't believe in you."

"I know."

"You know? Then what's the problem? Are you upset about the death of the hunters?"

Naruto hesitated. He surreptitiously looked around to see if anyone was close enough to overhear and then said quietly, "It's not that I'm worried about being able to kill someone if I have to. I've done it before. It did bother me, but I've had a lot of time to think about it."

He looked Kakashi in the eye and said firmly, "I know now that I can do it again if I have to, especially if that person deserves it. I can kill him and feel no guilt, no sadness, no remorse. Sometimes it's right. It's justice. I don't have a problem with that."

The jonin nodded, proud of Naruto's resolution and yet a bit bothered by it too. The child he had raised was dead and in his place stood a shinobi. He asked, "Then what's the problem?"

"Well, I don't know, I mean those things were kids at one time. They were innocents. That should bother me shouldn't it?" he continued on without letting Kakashi answer. "But it didn't – those things weren't kids – not anymore. They were monsters. What worries me, what scares me the most… maybe I kill some loser who deserves it… some walking piece of garbage… and this time I like it."

"You won't."

Naruto continued on as though in a trance. "I never liked it before. Never felt like a hero or anything. But it doesn't sicken me either – at least not anymore. I won't puke or lose any sleep over it or anything like that. At least I don't think so. So… what if the next time…or the time after that…?"

Kakashi stepped in front of the boy, forcing him to stop and look up. "Listen to me. The fact that you are asking yourself that question tells me that you will never like it. You aren't that type of person. Between you, Sasuke, and Sai – you would be the last person to do that. I believe Sasuke could if given the right incentive, but never you."

Naruto mulled over Kakashi's words than shook his head. "No," he disagreed, "You're wrong about him. Sasuke's not the type of person to ever turn bad."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows. "What makes you so sure of that?"

"Because he worries – he agonizes."

"Does he? About what?"

"About what's right, what's wrong. About what he does, the decisions he makes. Sometimes I think I might even know him better than he knows himself. He doesn't say a lot but he agonizes. He always thinks of the mistakes his father made and he doesn't want to repeat them. He's afraid of it."

"Most people do worry about what's right and what's wrong."

"No," he said. "Not these days. Most shinobi believe everything's got a lot of give, including morals. Sasuke is a lot like Sai in a way; it's either black or white... there is no grey with them."

"A lot like you too."

Naruto stared off into the distance. He gave a slight tilt of his head and shrugged self-consciously. "Maybe."

Kakashi looked up, deep in thought. The canopy of trees was now taller and stretched out across the path, filtering the sun. The forest itself has grown darker and more twisted with ferns and creepers. Strange birds flew out of the trees as they passed and a large lizard slipped along an overhanging limb. The depth of the forest was dark, ominous, yet cool and strangely inviting. He smiled.

"You really will be fine Naruto. I believe that and you should too. Oh, and by the way… I saw the body switch you did with one of your clones when one of those Hunters almost sliced up Chouji. That was pretty damn cool."

Naruto grinned, feeling better despite his worries. 'Pretty damn cool' was very high praise indeed coming from Kakashi. "Come on, old man… we're almost there. Maybe now that I'm an awesome ninja, you'll finally see me as an adult and buy me a drink!"

"Sure thing," said Kakashi with a smirk.

As Naruto ran off with a whoop, severely jostling the poor civilian whom he was dragging along in a litter, Asuma joined Kakashi and asked, "You're not really going to buy him sake are you?"

"Mah, what kind of father would do that? He didn't specify what kind of drink. They have a very nice stand that sells fruit juice in the village."

Asuma chuckled. "I can't wait to see his face when you do that. Kakashi, you're indeed a cruel, cruel man."

~~Nighttime~~

Just before they all fell asleep, Sasuke turned to Naruto and said, "Rough day, huh?"

"Eh, could be worse. How's my hair?"

Sasuke smirked at the dirty, messy blonde head and said, "Not a strand out of place."

They were each quiet for a moment before Sai sat up and asked, "Do either of you have any regrets from this day?"

Sasuke shook his head. "None. You?"

"No. What about you Naruto?"

"Nah, if there's one thing I don't want on my tombstone, it's 'He went down without a fight'.

Sasuke stared for a second then gave a slight smile and a snort. "No danger of that, Baka."

"Tch, you're such a Teme. Go to sleep."

As Sai lay in the darkened room surrounded by the sleeping genin, he stared out at the moon peeking through the slit in the curtains. His mind was far away; busy analyzing, categorizing, and filing away all the events of the day. He yawned deeply, curiously tired all of the sudden. Although deep inside him, he knew that he was safe with the two jonin in the house, he still had his little sentries on watch.

Yawning again, he tiredly rubbed his eyes. The tiny moonbeam in his line of sight wavered and rippled, his arms felt leaden. Another huge yawn split his face. Sai fought to keep his heavy lids open. The squeak of his tiny sentry alerted him to the danger too late.

"Nar…Saaa…," he mumbled thickly. Unable to sound the alarm, he watched helplessly as a shadow detached itself from the wall and picked up his brother. Before Sai lost the fight against the knock-out gas, he glimpsed a purple rope.

Orochimaru had taken his brother.

AN:

New recommendation for you all - it's one of my favorites. Actually, just about everything from this author, DigiFruit is really great. Check out Do You Remember Love.

Thanks to everyone that followed/favorited/commented on the last chapter!

Ja Ne,

AZFAERYDUST